Bankura: After nearly seven hours of peaceful sit-in protest outside the Bankura District Magistrate’s office amidst torrential rain on September 8, Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) activists secured an assurance from the district administration that steps would be taken within two-and-a half months to establish a world class school in Karisunda village of West Bengal’s Bankura, in the memory Abdul Hafiz’s father, Sheikh Mohammad Mafik.The administration also assured the protesters that they would take responsibility for the safety and security of Hafiz and his family.CJP members stage a sit-in demanding justice for Abdul Hafiz and family. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.The protesters also demanded that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members who allegedly attacked and killed Mohammad Mafik should be arrested. According to the CJP, he lost his life while campaigning for the cause of education. The administration assured them that the police would take steps to arrest the accused.Besides that, the protesters called for a comprehensive investigation by a retired judge into the brutal attack allegedly carried out by the BJP workers against Hafiz and his father on August 13. The administration, however, said that the government would take a decision on demand. The CJP activists promised that if the commitments were not fulfilled within ten days, the organisation would take its movements to the streets of Kolkata.For the people of Bankura, September 8 offered a striking picture of a determined movement led by students and youth, one that refused to retreat despite intimidation, adverse weather and administrative resistance, and ultimately succeeded in making its voice heard.Why was the CJP forced to stage a sit-in protest?The events that led to the CJP’s sit-in outside the Bankura District Magistrate’s office can be traced back to August 13, when a confrontation involving a youth from Karisunda village of Indas block ended in the death of his father and triggered a wider protest movement across the state.On August 13, Hafiz, a resident of Karisunda, visited the primary school in his village and met its headmaster Kashinath De.According to Hafiz, they discussed several issues concerning the school, including the quality of education, student attendance and improving healthcare facilities for the students. He mentioned that he also told the headmaster that he was willing to contribute, if necessary, to the overall improvement of education in the village. CJP activists march towards the Bankura District Magistrate’s office on September 8. Photo: Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.Hafiz alleged that the headmaster did not share any information about the school with him and instead asked him to come back later. Further, he claimed that the headmaster subsequently informed local BJP leaders about his visit, describing the arrival of what he referred to as a “Cockroach Party” in the village and asking them to stop it if they could.In July, Hafiz had travelled to Delhi to participate in the CJP-led movement and had posted updates about the protest on social media.“I posted about the movement on social media from Delhi. During the protest, it was decided that CJP would continue its movement across the country for the improvement of education,” Hafiz told The Wire. According to him, after he returned to Karisunda, local BJP activists began threatening him and questioned why he had travelled to Delhi to participate in the CJP movement. He said he ignored the threats and continued his efforts to find out about the condition of education at his village which lead to the attack on his father.“That night, a team of around 15 BJP activists came to my house. They disconnected the electricity connection and attacked me. When my father tried to save me, he was assaulted too,’’ Hafiz alleged.He said that when he and his father Mohammad Mafik went to Indas hospital, doctors were reluctant to treat them because of fear of the BJP. Both of them allegedly received only preliminary treatment and were discharged.“On our way back, the BJP backed goons attacked us again in Khosbag village. My father was seriously injured. We had to admit him to Bardhaman Medical College and hospital on August 15, where he died the same day,’’ he said.Also read: Interview | Abdul Hafiz on CJP, His Grandmother, and His Father Being Killed Because He Asked to Inspect a SchoolThe allegations have since triggered protests across West Bengal. Left-affiliated student, youth, women’s teachers and farmers’ organisations travelled to Karisunda and pledged their solidarity to Hafiz and his family. Several CJP leaders and workers across the country travelled to the village to show their solidiarity.Under mounting pressure, the police have so far arrested 11 people.Behind the story, however, lies the story of a family struggling to survive.Hafiz’s father Mohammad Mafik was a bread hawker who earned his livelihood by selling bread in Burdwan. The family owns no agricultural land. Mohammad Mafik had taken loans to build a modest two-room house in the middle of the fields, and he was the family’s sole earning member.The day after his father’s death, Hafiz made his demand clear: he did not want compensation, instead, he wanted the government to establish a world-class school in Karisunda in his father’s name. He also demanded punishment for everyone involved in the attack.CJP leaders including Prem Akash Gulu and Abdul Hafiz, head towards the Bankura District Magistrate’s office on August 21 to submit a memorandum listing their demands. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.With these demands, Hafiz accompanied by CJP leaders, submitted a memorandum to Bankura District Magistrate Aneesh Dasgupta on August 21. They gave the government ten days to fulfil their demands, warning that they would launch a movement if no action was taken.CJP leader Prem Akash Galu told The Wire that when they sought an appointment with the state’s chief secretary, they were not granted a meeting.Following this, the CJP informed the Bankura district administration that it would meet the District Magistrate on September 8 and submit a fresh deputation. But, when the CJP protesters reached the District Magistrate’s office, the district magistrate did not meet them.That refusal became the immediate trigger for the seven-hour sit-in outside the District Magistrate’s office on September 8.CJP’s protest gains momentum in Bankura“On August 21, we had placed our demands before the Bankura district magistrate and gave the administration ten days to act. But nothing was done. That is why we have returned to Bankura today to once again place our demands before the district magistrate,’’ said Dedipyo Ganguly, coordinator of CJP West Bengal East Zone.As CJP prepared to renew its protest, Bankura town took on the appearance of a heavily fortified zone from early September 8 morning. Police were deployed at several points across the city. Water cannons and tear-gas shells were brought in. Long barricades made of iron and bamboo were erected along the approach to the district magistrate’s office, with a heavy police presence lining the barricades.The heightened security also drew considerable curiosity among local residents.“We have come to see the Cockroach Party’s movement. It was because of the pressure of their movement that the country’s education minister [Dharmendra Pradhan] had to resign,’’ said a resident of Lalbazar in Bankura town. Several other residents, including Sumanta Basu of School Danga, echoed similar sentiments.Also read: Blood, Grief and the Fight for Education: The Story of Abdul HafizCJP leaders underlined that their protest would remain peaceful.“We will sit in protest wherever the administration stops us,’’ the CJP had said. A procession began from the Tamlibandh area and moved towards the district magistrate’s office.As the protesters approached the office, police stopped the march. Rather than attempting to break through the barricades, CJP activists sat down at the spot and began their sit-in protest.“My father’s attackers have not all been arrested yet. BJP’s local modal (organisation unit) president Saurav Bairagi and Ujjal Chakrobarty, among others, are still moving around openly. The headmaster of Karisunda school, who, I allege, sent the attackers to my house, is also yet to be arrested,’’ sitting amid a heavy police cordon outside the DM office, Hafiz made these allegations before the media. He pointed out that a few days earlier, on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, Bairagi had participated in a Raksha Bandhan programme outside Indas police station, while the police, he alleged, remained silent.“Sometimes the police call us at night for questioning, and sometimes they call us in the middle of heavy rain. We have cooperated with the administration on every issue. But why is the administration refusing to accept our legitimate demands?’’ Hafiz asked.CJP leader Prem Akash Gulu speaks with Bishnupur SDPO Anjali Sugu during the protest outside the Bankura District Magistrate’s office on September 8. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.As the protest continued, CJP leader Prem Akash Gulu said that the movement was fundamentally about education. “We are speaking about improving education. The future of the children of Police officers, administrators and people from every section of society is connected to education. Did Abdul [Hafiz]’s father have to be killed simply because he [Hafiz] spoke about education?’’ he asked.Gulu also alleged that the police investigation into the incident had not been conducted properly. From the protest site, he reiterated the CJP’s demand for an independent investigation by a retired judge.“We believe the police are not investigating the matter properly. That is why we are demanding an inquiry by a retired judge,’’ Gulu said.The protesters refused to leave despite the worsening weather. Torrential rain and repeated lighting swept across the area, but the CJP activists remained seated.A CJP activist in a sit-in protest holding a placard outside Bankura District Magistrate’s office. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.At one point, Bishnupur Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Anjali Sugu met the protesters and appealed to them to withdraw the sit-in. Gulu responded by pointing to what the protesters saw as the administration’s refusal to engage with them. “The district magistrate has not met us. The chief secretary of the state has also not met us. Please speak to the chief secretary from here,” Gulu told the SDPO. Eventually, the administration came forward with assurances. Additional District Magistrate of Bankura (General) Chirontan Pramanik met the protesters and sought two and half months to take steps towards establishing a school in Hafiz’s father Mohammad Mafik’s name. The administration also assured the protesters that Hafiz and his family would be provided security and that steps would be taken to arrest all those accused in the case. Only after these assurances did the protesters agree to withdraw the sit-in.For the protesters, the outcome was a measure of what sustained, peaceful pressure could achieve. Only after the assurances they agree to withdraw the sit-in.